RELIGION and Its PHILOSOPHY

OUTLINE
i. RELIGIOUS BELIEF
ii. RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
• On the PROBLEM of Religious Language
and Its SOURCE

• On the PROBLEM of Religious Language

and Its SOLUTIONS

iii. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

iv. GOD’S EXISTENCE and Some ARGUMENTS

RELIGION and Its
PHILOSOPHY
• this unit covers (and discusses)
RELEVANT FIELDS of
information such as
PHILOSOPHY, SOCIOLOGY,
PSYCHOLOGY,
LINGUSITICS, and the
NATURAL SCIENCES
RELIGION and its PHILOSOPHY
• information is BASIC but
serves as strong
FOUNDATION in
understanding RELIGION, its
PHILOSOPHY, THEISTIC
approach, SPIRITUALITY,
and “its ROLE and IMPACT
on HUMAN HISTORY and
PERSONAL LIFE
RELIGION and Its
PHILOSOPHY • concentrates, specifically, on PHILOSOPHY of
RELIGION and some of its important themes:

a) RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE and BELIEF

b) RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

c) CONCEPTS about GOD

d) ARGUMENTS about GOD’S EXISTENCE

e) … and ISSUES of EVIL and SUFFERING

 Philosophy of Religion

• a discipline (in philosophy) which is responsible

in understanding and analyzing the NATURE and
MEANING of RELIGION
 Philosophy of Religion

• traditional approach of this discipline focused

much on THEISTIC consideration

• the present time, however, extends its interest on

both THEISTIC and NON-THEISTIC approach
 RELIGIOUS BELIEF and LANGUAGE

• Religious BELIEF deals on

information that talks about the
NATURE and EXISTENCE of GOD

• while Religious LANGUAGE gives

account on STATEMENTS or
CLAIMS about GOD or gods
 On RELIGIOUS BELIEF

• a form of ASSUMPTION
/ CONVICTION,
especially among
Western Philosophers of
Religion, regarding the
existence of DIVINE
REALITY
On RELIGIOUS BELIEF
• an assumption that behind
our NATURAL and
PHYSICAL WORLD
there is a
METAPHYSICAL, and
TRANSCENDENT
REALITY identified later
as the concept of an
ULTIMATE REALITY
(and its EXISTENCE)

 claims of major religions

On RELIGIOUS BELIEF

WESTERN RELIGION EASTERN RELIGION

ULTIMATE REALITY
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM
• a personal GOD, a CREATOR
and PROVIDER of ALL;
ABSOLUTELY PERFECT
BUDDHISM, TAOISM, and HINDUISM
• NOT a PERSONAL
CREATOR GOD, but an
ABSOLUTE STATE of
BEING or / and
UNDIFFERENTIATED
ABSOLUTE REALITY
On RELIGIOUS BELIEF
WESTERN RELIGION EASTERN RELIGION
ULTIMATE REALITY
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM BUDDHISM, TAOISM, and HINDUISM
assigned
DESCRIPTIONS/CHARACTERISTICS to TAOISM as the TAO
the concept of GOD
known as GOD ATTRIBUTES (POSITIVE sense):
HINDUISM as BRAHMAN
OMNISCIENCE (all-knowing),
OMNIPOTENCE (all-powerful), and with different names HUNYATA
IMMUTABILITY (unchanging from beginning BUDDHISM
and NIRVANA
till the end)
On RELIGIOUS BELIEF
WESTERN RELIGION EASTERN RELIGION
ULTIMATE REALITY
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and BUDDHISM, TAOISM, and
ISLAM HINDUISM
the goal of Belief is SALVATION
is EQUAL to LIBERATION;
SALVATION LIFE after DEATH;
EVIL and SUFFERING
On RELIGIOUS BELIEF
ULTIMATE REALITY
JOHN SCHELLENBERG (1959 -) a Canadian Philosopher and his recent view:

calls it “ULTIMISM”
a principle which is neither THEISTIC (a belief on the EXISTENCE of
GOD) nor PANTHEISTIC (a belief that GOD is identified with the
UNIVERSE)
his RELIGIOUS PERSPECTIVE is to have FAITH on METAPHYSICAL
(something that TRANSCENDS the REALM of the PHYSICAL WORLD)
REALITY
and AXIOLOGICAL (something that relates to the ESSENCE of VALUES
[the concept of GOOD]) REALITY
the ULTIMATE REALITY for him is the ULTIMATE GOOD
 On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

 an APPROACH which utilizes

LANGUAGE as a TOOL in
CONSTRUCTING STATEMENTS
or CLAIMS about the concept of
GOD or gods
On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

• in the study of LANGUAGE, this

approach is one of the interests of
LINGUISTICS, simply known as
“DESCRIPTIVE LINGUISTICS
(DL)”
•DL works by OBJECTIVELY
ANALYZING and DESCRIBING
how LANGUAGE is actually used
in a PARTICULAR CONCEPT
 On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

in PHILOSOPHY of LANGUAGE,

this study is called SEMANTICS, a
PHILOSOPHICAL and SCIENTIFIC
study of MEANING in NATURAL
and ARTIFICIAL LANGUAGES
On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

 some experts in Philosophy of

Religion find this approach
inadequate due to man’s
LIMITED capacity to decode
COMPLETE and
COHERENT statements about
the very ESSENCE and
EXISTENCE of GOD
 On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

 this problem is likewise attributed to:

i. man’s nature and his finite (limited)

character
ii. the limitation of Natural Language
On RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE

 this problem is likewise

attributed to:
iii. God as a DIVINE Reality

with DIVINE
Characteristics /
Attributions
 1. the ATTRIBUTES assigned by WESTERN
RELIGIONS under the Abrahamic Descent –
known as the TRADITIONAL ABRAHAMIC
Attributes
On the  GOD as:
Problems of i. INCORPOREAL,

RELIGIOUS ii. INFINITE and

LANGUAGE iii. TIMELESS

and Its  these claims are based on Human

Source ATTRIBUTES: being
CORPOREAL, FINITE and
TEMPORAL
2. The DIVINE SIMPLICITY
DOCTRINE
 suggests that HUMAN SPEECH On the
cannot PERFECTLY EXTRACT
the DIVINE EXISTENCE Problems of
RELIGIOUS
 for GOD’S EXISTENCE and
ESSENCE are ONE LANGUAGE
and Its
Source
 2. The DIVINE SIMPLICITY
DOCTRINE

On the  GOD'S EXISTENCE is a DIVINE

REALITY which has ALL types of
Problems of PERFECTION (anybody can
RELIGIOUS determine), so there is NO NEED
LANGUAGE for the HUMAN MIND to
ARTICULATE its OWN
and Its
Source
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
 SCHOLARS attempted to PROVIDE ANSWERS /
SOLUTIONS, though NO SINGLE SOLUTION
has been ACCEPTABLE

• here are some of the suggested solutions:

i. Verificationism
ii. Realism
iii. Non-Realism
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism
 developed by LOGICAL EMPIRICISTS (in early 20th Century),
by formulating a TEST on the TRUTH-VALUE of
STATEMENTS

 some proponents of this theory are RUDOLF CARNAP

(1891-1970), A.J. AYER (1910-1989), but challenge later by
ALONZO CHURCH (1903-1995) and RICHARD
SWINBURNE (1903-)
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism

 TESTED the TRUTH-VALUES of STATEMENTS based on

EXPERIENCE, so if STATEMENT can be VERIFIED and
dependent on EXPERIENCE it is considered TRUE, if NOT,
then the STATEMENT becomes FALSE

 and FALSE STATEMENTS then Becomes MEANINGLESS

or UNINTELLIGIBLE
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism
 RUDOLF CARNAP (1891-1970) “argued that ALL
METAPHYSICAL assertions are MEANINGLESS because
they are BEYOND the point of VERIFICATION with world
EXPERIENCE”

 and for him, the TRUTH-VALUE of a METAPHYSICAL

assertion CANNOT be ASSESSED due to LACK of
EMPIRICAL VERIFIABILITY
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism

 A.J. AYER (1910-1989) followed the same line of thinking of

CARNAP

 he suggested that because “ALL STATEMENTS about GOD

CANNOT be VERIFIED, so these STATEMENTS are also
MEANINGLESS”
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism

 in a simple analysis, both AYER and CARNAP are

SUGGESTING the IDEA that STATEMENTS about God are
METAPHYSICAL and CANNOT be PROVEN by
EXPERIENCE, thus they are MEANINGLESS and
UNINTELLIGIBLE
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism

 challenged later by ALONZO CHURCH (1903-1995)

and RICHARD SWINBURNE (1903-); these two (2)
refuted the claim of AYER and CARNAP causing
later on the collapsed of the theory of Verificationism
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism

 AYER in his behalf defended the “principle of

Verificationism” by revising and modifying his claim
through his work entitled: “The Principle of
Verifiability” and “Language, Truth and Logic”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
i. Verificationism
 Verificationism, however, still did not sit well to its
OPPONENTS and the group later explained that in providing
solution to the problem of religious language utilizing
experience alone cannot STAND

 this principle virtually collapsed in 1970’s

On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

 PROPONENTS of this theory “hold that their religious beliefs

are about what actually exists independent of the persons who
hold those beliefs”
 leading proponents of this theory:
 St. AUGUSTINE (354 AD-430 AD)
 St. ANSELM (1033-1109)
 St. THOMAS AQUINAS (1225–1274)
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism
 holds that universals (abstract
St. AUGUSTINE
(354 AD - 430 AD)

objects which exists objectively and

modified outside of human minds) existed
Plato's
REALISM before the material universe in
  God's creative mind, and that
humanity as a universal preceded
“individual men”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

 believes that he could derive

St. ANSELM

uses REASON in truth about what actually exists

(1033-1109)

exploring the from consideration of an ideal

mysteries of FAITH -
"FAITH seeking or universal, and argued that
UNDERSTANDING because God is the greatest of
" 
beings, he must exist in reality
as well as in thought
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

 argued that human reason could

St. THOMAS

not totally grasp God's being, but

(1225–1274)

built on
AQUINAS

ARISTOTL
one could use reason in theology
E'S
moderated whenever it is concerned with the
REALISM connection between universals and
individual objects
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

 suggested that “religious language and belief must

transcend the realm of human experience provided
there is a referent through which a religious language
or belief can stand for”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

• different groups of Realists and their views:

1. “fideists”
2. “evidentialists” and
3. “reformed epistemologists”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

• different groups of Realists and their views:

1. “fideists”
 claim that religion does not require evidence and
justification; religion is about faith and trust, not
evidence
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

• different groups of Realists and their views:

2. “evidentialists”
 disagree and claim that while faith is fundamental to
religion, or at least to some religions, there are in fact
good arguments and evidences for religious truth
claims
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism
• different groups of Realists and their views:
3. “reformed epistemologists”
 (the term “reformed” is from the tradition of the Calvanist
Reformation), a non-evidentialist group similar to the fideists’
position

 leading proponents are ALVIN Plantinga (1932-), NICHOLAS

Wolterstorff (1932-), and WILLIAM ALSTON (1921-)
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

• different groups of Realists and their views:

3. “reformed epistemologists”
 maintain that belief in God can be a rational endeavor
despite lack of evidence
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
ii. Realism

• different groups of Realists and their views:

3. “reformed epistemologists”
 believes that evidence is not required for one’s faith to
be justified
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism

 as opposed to Realism, followers of Non-Realism believe

that religious claims are not about realities that transcend
human language, concepts and social forms because religion
is a human construct and religious language refers to human
behavior and experience
On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism

 some proponents of this theory are LUDWIG

WITTGENSTEIN (1889-1951), SIGMUND FREUD (1856-
1939), DON CUPITT (1934-), ALVIN PLANTINGA
(1932–), NICHOLAS WOLTERSTORFF (1932–), and
WILLIAM ALSTON (1921–)
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN (1889-1951) iii. Non-Realism

 affirms that “LANGUAGE does not have a fixed structure

representing things as they are but rather a human activity
which is subject to changes in human life and activity”

 Language, for him, manifests a set of activities which he

called “language games”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN (1889-1951) iii. Non-Realism
 speech and action work together so that anyone who
wants to learn a language must respond to the words
being used according to different contexts

 Language games reflect the practices and forms of life of

different religious adherents which echoes the belief that
“action speaks louder than words”
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) iii. Non-Realism

 one of the known figures who was highly critical on religion

 his thought on religion was considered by most as

complex and ambivalent
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) iii. Non-Realism

 opposes the position of Realists as he accepts that religion is

a human construct

 his general position stands firmly in the naturalistic tradition

of projectionism (that objective reality belongs to the mind
of the person perceiving it)
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism DON CUPITT (1934-)

 rejects historic religious dogma since such would encompass

an outdated realist metaphysics and cosmology

 abandons the notion of objective and eternal truth and

replaces it with truth as a human improvisation
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism DON CUPITT (1934-)

 his approach to religion is to translate dogma and doctrine

into a spirituality of practice where they become guiding
myths to live by in this life, and they lead the believer to
give up belief in a supernatural afterlife beyond the grave
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism

 refuted the stand of realists as they fail to provide evidences

or justifications regarding God’s existence from evidence
found in the natural world
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism
 Non-Realists further claims that the argument of the Realists
are abject (dismal) failures due to:

1. religious claims and practices are always done within a

particular human context
2. the mind structures all perception within that context, so
the meanings of these claims are determined and limited
by that context
 On the Problems of RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE
and Its SOLUTIONS
iii. Non-Realism

 Non-Realists further claims that the argument of the Realists

are abject (dismal) failures due to:

3. in affirming a transcendent realm, one must go beyond

these contexts and structures
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
• is a descriptive term
which refers to the
STATE of society
where significant
DIFFERENCES of
religious BELIEFS
and practices
COEXIST and being
RESPECTED
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY

• allows ALL OPPOSING

religious PRACTICES in some
MANNER to CO-EXIST
WITHOUT extolling few are
SUPERIOR than the others in
ORDER to AVOID
CONFLICTS
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Approach and Response
 here are some of the approach:

1. Religious PLURALISM

2. Religious RELATIVISM
3. Religious EXCLUSIVISM
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach
1. Religious Pluralism and Response

 it avoids doctrinal conflicts and

maintains that doctrine itself is
not as important as religious
experience and the great
religious traditions are equally
authentic responses to Ultimate
Reality
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
1. Religious Pluralism Response

 JOHN HICK (1922-2012), who made

an explanation on religious
pluralism, applied IMMANUEL
KANT’s (1724-18904) distinctions of
Noumena (things as they are in
themselves) and Phenomena (things as
they are experienced)
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
1. Religious Pluralism Response

 HICK asserts that if some people

have theistic experiences in a
personal manner, others have
non-theistic, impersonal, even
pantheistic experiences
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
1. Religious Pluralism Response
 in his “pluralistic hypothesis” he
maintains that Ultimate Reality is
ineffable (indescribable) and beyond
our understanding, but that its
presence can be experienced through
various spiritual practices and
linguistic systems offered within the
religions
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
2. Religious Relativism Response

 the second approach in responding to

the reality of religious diversity

 relativism is a theory which claims

that truth is dependent on the person
(subjective) not on the thing-in-itself
(objective)
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
2. Religious Relativism Response

 supporters of this principle stick

to their religious claims as true
(subjective) even if they are
aware of coexisting opposing
religious beliefs which might
challenge their religious claims
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
2. Religious Relativism Response
 is comprised of various experiences
with mutually incompatible claims and
distinct views

 developed by Joseph Runzo;

suggested that the correctness of a
religion is relative to the worldview of
its community of adherents
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
2. Religious Relativism Response
 each of the religious traditions are
comprised of various experiences
and mutually incompatible truth
claims, and the traditions are
themselves rooted in distinct
worldviews that are incompatible
with, if not contradictory to, the
other worldviews
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
2. Religious Relativism Response
 this theory falls short of the
actual beliefs of religious
adherents, as some stand that
their beliefs are generally
understood to be true in an
OBJECTIVE sense, not just in
subjective point of view
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
Response
3. Religious Exclusivism

 the third response to the conflicting

truth claims about religions

 a widely held position among the

adherents of the major world religions
On RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Approach and
Response
3. Religious Exclusivism

 insists that their religious claim is the

one that is right, acceptable and
objectively true, while the claim of
others is considered false

 claims that salvation is found

exclusively in one religion